When it comes to horror movies, old school can be scariest. Especially when the films are tight, creepy black-and-white chillers starring the likes of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Claude Rains.

One of the most collectible Blu-ray sets of films from Hollywood’s Golden Age so far, “Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection” presents terrific new high-definition transfers of eight classics released between 1931 and 1954.

Universal has been criticized for digitally over-scrubbing some of its catalogue releases, but these have been handled with kid gloves — all have retained sufficient grain to give a highly satisfying, film-like experience at home. Few living persons have likely seen the earlier films looking this good.

Tod Browning’s “Dracula,’’ the oldest in the collection, received a full-scale restoration. With the cobwebs digitally blown away and the sound much improved, Lugosi’s most famous vehicle shocks anew in a film that has seen its reputation slip in recent decades.

James Whale’s “Frankenstein,” also from 1931 and starring Boris Karloff in a career-changing role, also looks and sounds far better than on DVD. Ditto Whale’s “The Invisible Man’’ (1933), with Rains, and Karl Freund’s “The Mummy’’ (1932), starring Karloff. The high-def transfers showcase Jack Pierce’s painstaking makeup and John Fulton’s amazing special effects.

All of these elements come together, along with Franz Waxman’s super-evocative score — the earlier films use music sparingly — in Whale’s “The Bride of Frankenstein” (1935), the high point of the Universal horror cycle and one of the best films of the 1930s, period.

It is, appropriately, the most spectacular-looking film in the set, offering ample opportunity to savor what amounts to a catalogue of some of the most memorable horror images of all time in a single film. It also showcases Karloff’s greatest performance as the tortured monster, as well as superb supporting work by Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein, and eccentric British character actor Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Pretorius.

And, of course, Elsa Lanchester makes a huge impression in her small but crucial appearance as the monster’s resurrected bride. She also plays “Frankenstein’’ author Mary Shelley in the witty prologue to the greatest sequel of all time.

After hugely successful reissues of “Frankenstein’’ and “Dracula’’ in 1938, Universal launched a second horror cycle of sequels, with Chaney Jr. stepping in as Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula and the Mummy. He created Universal’s only major new monster of the decade in “The Wolf Man’’ (1941), which had such a resonant script that Chaney reprised the troubled lycanthrope four more times.

The other ’40s entry in the set is Arthur Lubin’s 1943 remake of “The Phantom of the Opera.’’ Stepping into Lon Chaney Sr.’s most famous role, Claude Rains makes a fine phantom, even though the film spends entirely too much time on its singing leads, Nelson Eddy and Susanna Foster. It’s one of the most beautiful high-definition transfers I’ve seen of a Technicolor film from this era, with vibrant colors that duplicate a theatrical experience.

The sole title from the 1950s is Jack Arnold’s “Creature From the Black Lagoon” (1954), which is also presented in an optional digital 3-D restoration for those equipped with 3-D Blu-ray players and 3-D monitors.

Released earlier this month, “Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection’’ ($160) offers eight discs bound in a volume that’s nicely illustrated with original advertising art, along with a 48-page book on the studio’s horror legacy. Last week, the collection was also issued in a limited-edition “Coffin Box Collection” ($133) that offers all the same extras.